


Rosy Cheeks and Fairy Tales

by acciowests



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Bisexual Character, F/F, Girls Kissing, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Lesbian Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 07:49:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19080655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acciowests/pseuds/acciowests
Summary: After Artemis comes back from a mission, Zatanna decides it's the right time to finally tell her best friend how she really feels.





	Rosy Cheeks and Fairy Tales

"Artemis... wait up!"

As Zatanna jogged toward the archer she felt her heart beating against her chest. It had been just over a year since she had met the young hero and she had loved every minute of it. Artemis wasn't like her other friends in "Young Justice", she was... different. It sounded cliche, but Zatanna couldn't stop thinking about her. Oh, the joys of having a crush on your best friend.

Artemis had just gotten back from a mission with Robin and Kid Flash. The sweat rolling down from her forehead and the scrapes across her arms were an obvious sign that the mission hadn't been as 'quick and easy' as she had described before leaving. As Zatanna reached the girl in green, Artemis smiled gently, her body became tense as she breathed heavily from her winded chest. Their eyes met for a second before Zatanna gripped Artemis's arm lightly and began to examine the scrapes across her arms, some of them were sore and bleeding.

" Want me to fix you up? It'll be faster with my magic, y' know" She offered, running her fingers lightly over Artemis's tan skin

The immediate hiss between Artemis's teeth and slight jerk of her arm told Zatanna that the cuts in her arms were stinging. They looked painful, red skin had begun to peel around the thin sharp cuts that decorated themselves along the backs of her forearms. Despite her discomfort, Artemis shook her head and pulled her arm from Zatanna's grip.

"You don't have to worry, I think bandages will work" She chuckled lightly. Zatanna couldn't even begin to think how much she loved that chuckle.

The pair began to walk towards the south corridor - towards where all the girls' rooms were. Zatanna lingered slightly behind, she wanted time to think. Actually, that was a lie, she wanted to talk to Artemis - tell her how she really felt, she could just never find the words. She figured she would start off by saying that she was happy they were friends, or maybe that she was happy they were so close - either way, she was happy just to know her. Speaking of knowing her, Zatanna knew that Artemis definitely was not too keen on gushy, lovey-dovey stuff and that she was bound to find this entire upcoming conversation extremely awkward and uncomfortable. Every single fibre of Zatanna's being hoped that Artemis felt the same way - she wasn't ready to lose her if she didn't.

Artemis had begun limping as they turned the corner towards her room - sprained ankle most likely, Zatanna thought. Upon entering the room, Artemis sat immediately at the end of the bed whilst Zatanna grabbed her first aid kit from the bathroom. Artemis's room was rather big, definitely bigger than Zatanna's - but she didn't mind. Her bed was a double and had a basic green duvet sheet with black pillows. Her room didn't have many personal touches as Artemis only lived there part-time, but the ones she did have were subtle yet important. A three-shelved bookcase stood in the corner overflowing with books, atop of it stood a few fake succulents and a Vietnamese flag on a small stand. The wardrobe was pretty empty but within was a brown leather jacket, as well as a few pairs of blue jeans and a basic white tee. Artemis definitely wasn't one to depend too much on fashion. The main feature in Artemis's room was the gigantic pinboard that decorated the wall behind her bed. On it was photo's from her childhood, ones of her and her sister at the park, or them at home dressed up for Halloween. Zatanna didn't know much about Artemis's sister, just that she was now a well-known criminal and that she left when Artemis was still very young. The board was also filled with happier memories, ones of her and Wally last summer, her and Robin in costume, group photos of Young Justice that M'gann had forced them to take, and ones of her and Zatanna, arms around each other's waist smiling directly into the camera. Zatanna was in awe of every single one of those photos.

Zatanna sat down beside Artemis, gently placing the first aid kit behind her on the bed and grabbing a disinfecting wipe. "You don't have to," insisted Artemis, a rosy flare upon her cheeks.

Zatanna just shook her head lightly, " It's no problem" she smiled, washing over her forearm with the wipe. Artemis gave into the girl beside her and allowed her to continue.

Zatanna had so many things she wanted to say. As time passed and she finished cleaning Artemis up, Zatanna and Artemis ended up laying silently on top of her bed. The only sound in the room was the wind howling through the vent and the sound of them breathing. Zatanna could listen to Artemis breathing for hours - as weird as it sounded, she could. It had taken less than ten minutes to apply the bandaids and bandages to Artemis's arms and for Zatanna to wrap a bandage around her newly swollen ankle. Apparently, Artemis's mission with Kid Flash and Robin was ambushed by a small group of assassins who were focused on not letting the team leave the headquarters they had just broke into - logic. At the end of the day, Zatanna was just happy they had all came home alive. As they laid down, Artemis's hand rested only inches from Zatanna's and all Zatanna wanted to do was intertwine their fingers and have it be... normal.

"Arty... can I tell you something?" Zatanna whispered. Zatanna's heart was pounding as Artemis sat up and turned towards her. She looked restless, her hair fell down beside her face and she rubbed her eye lazily, " sure, are you okay?"

Zatanna nodded, pushing her self up and adjusting herself to sit beside Artemis. This was it. She was going to tell her how she felt, how she truly felt. Where was she even supposed to start, how could she ever find the right words? She'd waited what felt like years to finally tell her about her feelings and she wasn't going to screw up now.

"Ever since I joined Young Justice I've felt... a connection... between you and... you and me" She started, her palms became sweaty and her chest became tight Artemis's eyes became soft as she watched the girl before her confess her feelings. Zatanna couldn't help but notice how mesmerizing those eyes truly were.

"And I can't even remember why, or when, or even how but... I like you, Artemis. Like, I _like_ you like you..." she breathed heavily, looking up to see Artemis looking utterly confused

Great. She had ruined everything. Zatanna could hear her heart beating in her ears, could hear the pounding against her head. She tried to read Artemis's face, tried to guess what she was thinking... but nothing. She had always been hard to read but right now she was impossible.

" And I understand, I know you don't feel the same but... I just wanted you to know, I needed you to know... I just don't want you to hate me because-"

And she stopped. Or was forced to stop, rather.

She had felt it before she knew what was happening, felt the soft touch of lips against her own. Zatanna gently closed her eyes, leaning into the kiss further - Artemis was kissing _her_. She didn't know what she was expecting, but it most definitely wasn't this. She was having her first kiss, and it was... everything that she was told it was supposed to be, and she was having it with the girl she had the biggest crush on. Perhaps fairy tales are real, after all. Artemis moved her hand up and cupped the side of Zatanna's cheek, running her thumb along her cheekbone. Zatanna couldn't even believe this was happening, her skin began to tingle at her touch. Artemis's lips were soft and they tasted like strawberry lip balm. Despite the calluses on her palms from training, her hand was surprisingly gentle against her face. Slowly Artemis pulled away, taking her hand with her and resting it on Zatanna's thigh. Zatanna truly looked at Artemis for what felt like the first time, traces of Zatanna's lipstick stuck to Artemis's bottom lip and her cheeks were the brightest shade of red she had ever seen them.

" I could never hate you" Artemis smiled, moving her hand and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear

Zatanna couldn't help but notice how effortlessly beautiful she was, how she didn't even have to try and she was naturally the most beautiful girl she had ever seen.

" Why do I feel like I'm home whenever you're near me?" Zatanna expressed, her face only inches from Artemis's. Artemis chuckled, it was light and full of love, she reached across and intertwined her hand with Zatanna's. Zatanna's heartbeat immediately fastened and she wondered if it was obvious how elated she was.

" You're not the only one who feels like that" Artemis smirked, her thumb running over the back of Zatanna's hand

Zatanna didn't know where to go from there, all she knew was that she didn't want to stop being with Artemis in this kind of way. She wanted to feel the touch of her lips again, she wanted to run her fingers through Artemis's long thick hair and she wanted to lay in the dark with her, wanted to spend every minute in her presence as possible. She didn't know if that meant coming out to their friends or keeping their relationship a secret, but either way, she wanted a relationship with her more than anything and she was willing to wait for her if needs be.

Being only sixteen meant she had no clue what love truly meant, but she was hoping she could find it with Artemis.

**Author's Note:**

> My second snaibsel piece! I hope y'all are enjoying these, as always I appreciate comments and criticisms!  
> Happy pride month guys!
> 
> ( Also, huge thanks to Yomn for helping me and supporting me with this piece and just generally being an amazing friend! )


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